News

IHOP Is Hooking You Up With Short Stacks On Free Pancake Day For A Good Cause

IHOP

In just a few weeks, IHOP’s Free Pancake Day on March 12 will be here to help make satisfying those breakfast food cravings even sweeter. That Tuesday, your flapjack habit will help you pay it forward when you feast on a short stack at the retailer's annual Flip it Forward for Kids event. Free stacks of buttermilk pancakes and helping out kids while you're digging in to a delicious breakfast spread? It's a win-win situation that literally anyone can get on board with.

Every year, the aficionados of all things breakfast make giving to a great cause so incredibly easy (and tasty), thanks to their annual Free Pancake Day campaign. If you've yet to partake in it, here's how it all works. On March 12, IHOP will be opening up their free pancake campaign from 7 a.m. through 7 p.m. (select locations are participating until 10:00 p.m. per the press release), meaning you have at least a 12-hour window to claim one free stack of the chain's trademark buttermilk pancakes. Because the day is all about giving back, the chain will also be accepting donations for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and Shriners Hospitals for Children during that time to help them reach their $4 million fundraising goal.

If you find yourself getting into the philanthropic spirit of things, there are also a couple of other ways that you can give back from now until April 14. One option is to swing by an IHOP sometime before March 12 to purchase a wall sticker for $5, which will earn you a $5 coupon that you can use for any future IHOP dine-in purchase of more than $10. If you'd prefer, you can also just make a cash or check donation benefiting these three foundations at any IHOP restaurant from now until March 31.

Even if you can't make it over to an IHOP on March 12 (it is a Tuesday, after all), you can still get in on the pancake love for a good cause. From now until April 14, customers who purchase an OREO Oh My Goodness pancake stack or combo will be giving $1 from their meal towards the Children’s Miracle Network, The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, or Shriners Hospitals for Children.

"For the first time ever, the winning Kid Chef creation will be featured on a limited-time menu at IHOP restaurants nationwide," IHOP's head of communications, Stephanie Peterson, said in a statement.

She continued, "Not only are these pancakes delicious, but they also do a lot of good for our charity partners since $1 from the sale of every OREO pancake stack and combo benefits our Free Pancake Day charity partners, including Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals."

IHOP

TBH, the Oreo-topped flapjacks, which earned six-year-old Brody Simoncini his title as the IHOP Kid Chef Champion this year, sound incredible. Basically you're getting two buttermilk pancakes topped with crumbled Oreos, swirls of cupcake icing, and a whipped cream topping. In addition to the special meaning behind the recipe (Oreo cookies were apparently Simoncini's first solid food after he had to learn to eat again after undergoing a variety of lifesaving procedures), and the $1 donation towards these three charities will just make your purchase that make sweeter.

IHOP's Free Pancake Day is literally just around the corner, so I'd make sure to mark your calendar block off your schedule on March 12 for maximum pancake consumption. Because, let's be honest, there's never been a better excuse to eat breakfast for dinner.